I Drove All Night
by redheadsaremorefun
Summary: One phone call from her had him jumping in his car. AU Alex/Izzie with Gizzie references
1. Chapter 1

**I Drove All Night: An Alex/Izzie Fan-Fiction**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy or any of the characters.**

**PART ONE**

_Flashback to Cristina and Burke's wedding that wasn't._

_Izzie Stevens sat alone in a pew in the back of the church waiting for someone she didn't think would ever come. She hoped with everything she had that he would come, but a part of her doubted that George would actually show up. George. Her best friend. The guy who she slept with. The guy who she loved. The guy who was married to Callie. _

_Just five more minutes, she thought to herself. I'll wait for him for five more minutes, and if he doesn't show up, I'll walk out of the church and go home and it will all be over._

_Izzie heard faint footsteps and felt her heart stop beating. There he was._

"_Izzie," he said softly._

"_George. You came."_

"_I couldn't stay away. You asked me to come. And you're my best friend. And…"_

"_And?"_

"_And I love you. Izzie, I failed my intern exam. The Chief and Dr. Bailey said that I could stay and repeat it at Seattle Grace, but I can't stay here. There are too many people who will be disappointed. I was George O'Malley, the guy who performed heart surgery in the elevator, but now I'm George O'Malley, the guy who failed. Izzie, I'm leaving Callie. And I'm leaving Seattle."_

"_Where will you go? And how the hell can you tell me you love me and you're leaving your wife, but then go and tell me that you're moving?"_

"_I just got off the phone with a former professor of mine. He works at a hospital in Portland, Oregon. He said that he has two openings. One for an intern and one for a resident. Come with me, Izzie."_

_Izzie didn't know what to do. Should she leave her friends behind? Should she leave her career? But then she realized that without George, she really didn't have much to stay for. So she made her decision._

"_Of course I'll go with you."_

_It was a hard decision. Telling Bailey and the Chief that she was leaving was difficult, to say the least. But what broke her heart was saying goodbye to Meredith, Cristina, and Alex. Especially Alex. Meredith and Cristina at least pretended to be supportive, but Alex told her flat-out that she was making a mistake. And like it or not, when she got in the car with George, it was Alex's voice she heard echoing in her head._


	2. Chapter 2

**I Drove All Night**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy, or the characters.**

**PART TWO**

Izzie Stevens had it all. She had a great career as a surgical resident at the most prestigious teaching hospital in Portland. She was primarily specializing in neo-natal surgery and loved every minute of it. She had a great long-distance best friend in Alex Karev. And, most importantly, she was engaged to George O'Malley. He had a proposed four months ago, but they had yet to set a date because of their busy schedules. Even so, Izzie was happy that she had someone special to go home to at the end of every day. And she and George were so happy and as perfect as can be.

One day, after a long sixteen hour shift, Izzie came home and noticed that something was off. Nothing was different. In fact, everything was exactly as she had left it, but there was something. Choosing to ignore the feeling, she climbed the stairs to her bedroom, wondering if George was still awake, or if he had fallen asleep after his long day. She opened the door, and saw something that she never thought she would have to see.

"What the hell is this?" she demanded. George was lying in bed with the slutty scrub nurse that Izzie had always hated.

"Izzie…"

"No, don't you 'Izzie' me! I think your…friend may want to leave for this portion of the evening." And with that, the scrub nurse grabbed her clothes and ran out of the room.

"How the hell could you do this to me, George? We're engaged. I thought that meant something. Then again, you were married to Callie, so why should I have expected anything better?"

"Don't bring up Callie. That was different."

"When my fiancé cheats on me, I get to bring up whatever I want." She paused, thinking of what to say next.

"Pack your stuff, George."

"And go where?"

"A hotel, a motel, a trailer park, a hollow tree. I don't care!"

"Izzie, come on. She came on to me…"

"Get. Your. Stuff. And. Leave. NOW."

George knew that continuing to defend his actions would be pointless, so he walked silently out of the room, down the steps, and out the front door.

Izzie sat on her bed and broke down crying. Two failed engagements in her life. She had risked her career for Denny, then he died. She left everything for George, and then he cheated. Not knowing what to do, she picked up the phone. It was only 10:00, surely he would still be up.

"Hello?"

"Alex… It's me. Izzie."

"Hey, Iz. What's wrong? You sound all sniffly."

"George… He…" The rest of Izzie's words were incoherent, and muffled by the sounds of her sobs.

"Izzie, I can't hear you. But I need you to listen to me. Everything is going to be okay. I promise."

With those comforting words, Izzie hung up the phone, leaving Alex to wonder what the hell had just happened.


	3. Chapter 3

**I Drove All Night**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy or any of the characters.**

**PART THREE**

Just as he was getting home from a long shift at the hospital, including an appendectomy and an emergency c-section, Alex Karev heard the awful, piercing sound of the ringing phone. Glancing at the caller ID, Alex picked up the phone to talk to the one person he would pick up the phone for when he was this tired. Izzie.

""Hello?"

"Alex… It's me. Izzie."

"Hey, Iz. What's wrong? You sound all sniffly."

"George… He…" The rest of Izzie's words were incoherent, and muffled by the sounds of her sobs.

"Izzie, I can't hear you. But I need you to listen to me. Everything is going to be okay. I promise."

Izzie hung up the phone. Alex sat there, staring at the phone, trying to decide what to do. He was exhausted, he had no idea what was actually going on; there was no reason for him to do anything but wait for a follow-up phone call. That's exactly what he would have done if it has been anyone else on the phone.

But it wasn't anyone else. It was Izzie. And so, without any further hesitation, Alex threw some clothes and basic necessities in a duffel bag and jumped in his car, prepared to make the four hour drive to Portland.

**Author's Note: I know this is a short chapter, but I promise that there will be another (better) update coming within a day or two. Thank you so much for all the reviews! **


	4. Chapter 4

**I Drove All Night**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy or any of the characters**

**Author's Note: In my version of events, at Cristina's wedding Alex didn't go back to the hospital to find Ava and give her a reason to stay. There was no Ava; he went back to the house to get something for Izzie.**

**PART FOUR**

They'd been living in different states for over a year, but Alec still missed Izzie every day. Which is why he jumped in his car at 10:05 p.m. to drive four hours to her house in Portland. No, not just her house. The house she shared with George.

George. Izzie's fiancé. The guy who had left his wife for her. They guy who has probably either done something awful or diagnosed with pancreatic cancer from the way Izzie had sounded on the phone. It was almost like after Denny died.

There was one thing that Alex was sure about, he thought as he drove, and that was that he loved Izzie more than he ever thought he would be capable of. It was too bad he had never gotten to tell her. George had gotten in the way of that.

"Nothing is worse than missing out on an opportunity that could have changed your life." Addison's words at Burke and Cristina's wedding still echoed in his head. That day, after Addison's advice, he went back to the house. He has a gorgeous necklace waiting in his dresser drawer. He has planned on waiting for the perfect moment to give it to Izzie, but Addison had taught him that sometimes you have to make your own perfect moments.

He grabbed the necklace and drove back to the church. But there she was with George. He went back to Meredith's and tried to calm himself down while simultaneously scolding himself for ever thinking that he had another chance.

And then she told him she was moving. It completely broke his heart. He told her that moving was the wrong thing to do, but she wouldn't listen. She insisted that she was in love. "Either you can support me, or you can stand back and watch me go and be angry. But either way, Alex, I'm going," Izzie had told him. He didn't take back what he had said earlier; he couldn't. But he still loaded the car and wished her well.

He still had that necklace. It was one of the few items that he threw in his duffel bag. Maybe it wouldn't be the right time to give it to her. Maybe the right time would never come. But he had to give it a shot because he loved her. And as he continued to drive into the night, he began to believe that his love for her was all that mattered.


End file.
